Early Stoy Families

Philip Stoy, my 3^rd great-grandfather, was born in New Jersey on 24 Dec 1767. He was reported to have come from Pennsylvania in an early history of the family:¹ from Daulphin[sic] County in Pennsylvania where he had previously settled, with his four stalwart sons - all expert axemen. Unfortunately for the author of this 1931 manuscript, Philip was in Haddonfield, New Jersey, during the start of the Revolutionary War (1777) as a child of about ten² and appeared in the tax lists of 1791 as a single man³ - all his sons were born after he arrived, and married, in Haddonfield.

The only fact in this information that is interesting is the Dauphin County origin because this is where Heinrich Wilhelm Stoy appeared in the 1750s. There is no known connection between these families based on knowing the children of Heinrich and believing the birthplace of Philip was New Jersey and not Pennsylvania, but the question remains: Where did Philip come from?

I've traced most of the descendants of Philip into the 20th Century although some of the females who married have not yet been located (all of Philip's children are known). None of these lead back to Pennsylvania, but there were a number of Stoy families in early Pennsylvania, not all of which were connected to either Philip or Heinrich. It seemed time to sort all these families and find out who was related and who was not. Perhaps this could lead back to Europe and a common ancestor?

The short answer to this study is that there are three, and perhaps more, Stoy families in the 18^th Century Colonies with three more appearing in the early 19^th Century, before 1850. If there was a connection in Europe, it's not yet clear and it may be that a DNA study would be the only way to establish any linkage among the families.

The following is an extensive study of all early Stoy families in the Colonies or United States, starting with the earliest known progenitor for each line. Material from existing family histories was used as a starting point but this study also attempts to see if these histories can be supported by evidence, either direct or indirect. The work is not exhaustive because of the lack of sufficient on- site research into original records - more needs to be done but this can provide a good starting point.

The research is in this .pdf file: Early Stoy Families

Old Philadelphia Landmarks

There is an excellent article in an 1876 copy of Scribner's Monthly that discusses old landmarks of Philadelphia and shows many illustrations.
See this .pdf file: Old Philadelphia Landmarks

Source: Old Landmarks in Philadelphia, Scribner's Monthly, Vol XII (June 1876): 145-167.

Maps of Pennsylvania

The pdf file contains only thumbnail size maps, which are also shown here. If you click on any map a full-size version appears.

Endnotes

1. "Stoy's Landing", unknown author, 1931, manuscript - speech given at dedication of plaque at Stoy's Landing, John D F Morgan Collection No. 149; Camden Historical Society, Camden, New Jersey. Material copied 25 Apr 2004.

2. "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files," digital images, Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com : accessed 20 Jul 2008); Isaac Armstrong; imaged from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, M804 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives [n.d.]), no roll number cited.

3. Gloucester County, New Jersey, Tax Ratables 1778-1822: unpaginated, arranged by township and tax year, entry for Philip Stoy, 1791 tax year, Waterford Township; FHL microfilm 865,474 Salt Lake City, Utah.

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